Dolores Huerta released from UCLA to spend holidays with her family

Dolores C. Huerta–a pioneer in the Latino, labor and women’s movements–was released Friday, Dec. 22 from UCLA Medical Center where she was being  treated for complications of a previous surgery.

The co-founder of the United Farm Workers returned to her home in Bakersfield for further recuperation and to spend the holidays with her family. A full recovery is expected.  Doctors have urged her to rest.

Huerta was transferred to ULCA by helicopter ambulance from a hospital in Bakersfield in critical condition on December 8. She had been re-admitted to Bakersfield Heart Hospital on Nov. 30, suffering from an infection and pneumonia. She was later placed in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Huerta was first admitted to Bakersfield Heart Hospital on Oct. 29, where she underwent emergency surgery to repair a rare opening of the aortic artery. The condition is called aortic duodenal fistula. Then, she remained in critical condition for more than a week. She was released to a rehabilitation facility in Bakersfield on Nov. 15.

Huerta is looking forward to spending the holidays at home with her family around her.  The Huerta family has requested that her privacy be respected. Cards and messages can be forwarded to P.O. Box 9189, Bakersfield, CA 93309 or via e-mail care of ufwofamer@aol.com. Family members suggest that well-wishers donate blood to their local blood bank in honor of Dolores instead of trying to visit or telephone her. (She has required 27 pints of blood over the course of her surgery and recovery).
     
Dolores and her family want to thank everyone for their prayers and messages of support.

In 1962, Huerta, then single with seven children, joined Cesar Chavez and his family in Delano, Calif. where they formed the National Farm Workers Association, which would become the UFW in 1966. She stepped down as the union’s secretary-treasurer in September to campaign for Vice President Al Gore.

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